Number of babies born in Germany falls to 10-year low

After a small spike in 2021, the number of children born in Germany fell to its lowest level since 2013 last year. In some German cities, the birth rate fell by as much as 10 percent. 

Fewer babies born in Germany in 2022

In 2022, 738.819 children were born in Germany, according to new figures from the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis). That’s 56.673 or 7 percent fewer newborns than in 2021, when just shy of 800.000 births were registered in Germany. 

Destatis reports that the total birth rate (the number of live births per woman of childbearing age) fell to 1,46 children per woman, the lowest rate seen since 2013. It’s an 8-percent decrease compared to 2021, when the birth rate rose significantly to 1,58 children per woman in what was dubbed a mini “COVID” baby boom, as those babies were conceived and born during the coronavirus pandemic. 

As Destatis noted in its press release, in order to maintain Germany’s population, the birth rate would need to be around 2,1. However, the federal republic has for many years been staving off population decline with record levels of migration. Last year, the country’s population swelled to 84,3 million people thanks to immigration.  

Berlin remains city with lowest birth rate in Germany

A breakdown of the regional statistics shows some big differences, although all federal states recorded a decline in the birth rate. The number of women giving birth declined particularly sharply in Hamburg and Berlin, by 10 percent, while the drop was smallest in Bremen, at 4 percent. 

The highest birth rates in the country were recorded in Rhineland-Palatinate and Lower Saxony, where the equivalent of 1,52 children per woman were born. Berlin remains the place issuing the fewest birth certificates, with a birth rate of 1,25. 

The birth rate also fell more sharply among women with German citizenship (down 9 percent compared to 2021) as opposed to women with foreign citizenship (down just 6 percent compared to 2021). The average age of first-time parents remained broadly the same, at 30,4 years for mothers (down slightly from 30,5) and 33,3 years for fathers.